Bali - Deepavali November 2007

I had heard a lot of comments and views about Bali some good some bad, so I was interested to see for myself what exactly it was like. My first impressions were that it was very much like the rest of Asia, green, lovely beaches, blue/green, warm seas, palm trees, malls, markets and stalls, which we had already visited (Ah....Sorry...to those who are back home in cold damp Britain....). But after a few days you start to see differences. The people are very friendly, happy and willing to help (even more so if they get a tip for doing it!).

Their lives depend very much on Tourism and this reflected in the amount of workshops and factories around. Making anything from Bhuda Statues to furniture to clothes and gifts. We also noticed the high security around the area and hotels, I presume after the bombings a few years back. Every vehicle was searched before entering any hotel grounds and searches of bags and belongings before entering some restaurants and shops.

We stayed on Kuta Beach, the main Tourist area of Bali. I was surprised at how quiet it was. The beach was cleaned each morning by an army of workers and sun beds were provided by local hirers at a bar ta price. There were locals coming round trying and sell you things, but once they had gone, they tended not to bother you again. The surf was good, so a lot surfers use the beach, with boards and boogie boards being on hire.

The hotel was the Alam KulKul Resort Hotel, which is classed as a 4*, the bedrooms were ok, they were large and clean, but sparse and needed updating a bit and the view wasn't too good overlooking a building site! I would stay there again, but next time I would choose one of the small villas that open onto the winding paths that run through this Bali style hotel.

It turned out that there were four families from Alice Smith staying at the hotel, so the kids had some friends to play with on the Beach or in the pool. We took a trip over to the new Safari Park which had just opened two weeks before. There is still a lot to be finished, but its in a great location and the animals were in great shape and looked well looked after. Next year they are opening the Marine Park, which will include the opportunity to swim with dolphins!

Of course the kids wanted to try surfing, so they all clubbed together (6 of them) and booked an hours surfing lesson with an instructor each. Sara and Charlotte mastered the balancing quite quickly catching waves and surfing right in to the beach. Hamish, after watching the girls, wanted a lesson the next day, but the surf was too high, so Graham hired him a boogie board and caught a few big waves.

One evening we took a walk along the sea front to The Hard Rock Cafe and had dinner. There was an anniversary sale on in the shop, so we bought a few T-shirts and caps for next to nothing.

On the final morning I booked a beach ride with Sara. It was pouring with rain when we got to the stables, and the guys there thought us mad to even contemplate riding in it, but as we set out, wearing our water proofs the rain stopped (I new it would, as it had been raining all night and new at some point it would stop for us). The water proofs didn't actually help when we had to cross a swollen river to reach the beach....Sara was literally swimming! On the beach the guide asked if we would like to canter (the beach being quite quiet at 9am)..Sara was off! with us in hot pursuit. The problem was her horse liked to be in front and as soon as we tried to overtake her, her horse just speeded up!...No, she was in control and seemed to loving every minute of it...It was great fun..we even managed to stop to say hello to Catriona (another KL friend, who was staying at a hotel just along the beach from us) who had walked out to see us.